What is a microbial colony picker used for? This machine is used in the culturing of microbial samples in instances where researchers wish to select a certain colony and then duplicate it. There are many applications in which colony picking is used, including DNA sequencing, synthetic biology (syn-bio), anaerobic species selection for microbiome studies, clinical [...]
Many people are now familiar with the term “PCR” or PCR test results, as a PCR test is the most common way to detect the presence of COVID-19. However, most people make a choice between PCR or an antigen test, and that’s the extent of their knowledge. Polymerase chain reaction, also known as PCR, is [...]
PCR tests have long been used to see genetic changes and diagnose infectious diseases. The test takes many copies of a DNA sample, allowing researchers to obtain a small sequence of DNA that can be amplified to study the DNA in greater detail. While this type of test became widely known during the COVID-19 pandemic [...]
When bacteria are cultured on solid media, it grows in formations called colonies. A bacterial colony is a cluster of cells derived from the same mother cell. They are fascinating microcosms that can reveal a wealth of information about the microorganisms that inhabit them. Microbiologists often use bacterial colonies to study bacterial populations' growth and [...]
What is a Transformation in Biology? Synthetic biology’s future depends highly on the applications being used for research and discovery. Complete workflow solutions aid in cell line production, which is an integral piece of one type of synthetic biology—cellular agriculture. If you’re wondering, “how did they create synthetic meat?,” the answer is synthetic biology. Synthetic [...]
The process of transformation has been instrumental in the field of molecular biology, allowing scientists to better understand genes and their functions. Read on to explore what a transformation is in biology, the history of transformation biology, and which new technologies rely on this biological process. What is a Transformation in Biology? A transformation is [...]
In this brief history of synthetic biology, the most fundamental discoveries in genetics and bioengineering will bring light to how synthetic biology was born. First, genetic discoveries and genome sequencing lay the groundwork for synthetic biology.Later, electrical and bioengineering design brought about synthetic biology's early years. To cap off the brief history of synthetic biology, [...]
Colony picking refers to the selecting and inoculating of a single bacterial colony from a cultured sample on a plate. Colony picking is a pre-processing step in many lab procedures, from DNA extraction to next gen sequencing. Colony picking robots are machines that first use image processing to select a colony with the desired characteristics, [...]
Like any emerging field of technology, synthetic biology has proponents and critics. With great benefits come new problems to solve. Proponents of synthetic biology see its potential to contribute to key issues like sustainable development and curing cancer, but critics worry that it allows scientists to “play God”. Read on and discover the pros and [...]
Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) is a technique used to amplify a specific DNA fragment, often starting with a small amount of template DNA, such as a single bacterial colony. PCR is a time-consuming process, especially when done manually. Automating PCR prep can significantly improve the efficiency and accuracy of laboratory work, and increase the margin [...]
